Some thoughts:
1) While I didn't think he was going to NY, I thought LBJ was returning home. Naïve of me.
2) The infamous 'I'm taking my talents to South Beach' line is still cringe worthy.
3) A total coup for ESPN, since it got tremendous ratings.
4) The whole Gray LBJ interview was just odd. I remember saying aloud, 'Just F'ing ask the only ? everybody wants to know: where is he playing basketball this fall?'
5) Dan Gilbert's weird Comic Sans letter afterwards, calling him Benedict Arnold. Just off the reservation, type of thing a love sick teenage girl writes after a breakup.
Zach Lowe had an article on ESPN earlier about those Heat teams & whether they underachieved. I say yes because they only won 2 titles-'13 still burns me. San Antonio had Game 6-after declaring they were going to win like 8 titles in a row.
I liked LBJ up to that point but I really didn't like him for awhile after 'The Decision'. And you could tell he obviously didn't foresee see the backlash that came afterwards. He played really angry that '10-'11 season & made some comment after the Mavs beat them in the '11 Finals about how people were glad to see him lose & they had problems in their own lives.
I like LBJ as a player/person, but I will never root for him as long as he's a Laker. Of course, with the Knicks luck, he'll come here in 2025 when he's at the very end to play with his son Bronny.
I know the Celtics kind of started that with Pierce, Garnett, and Allen, but the Heat thing was just different. The way they showcased it, etc.
It was also the point where I stopped listening to any LeBron Jordan comparisons because Jordan would have never screwed the Bulls over like that to go to the Knicks, Pistons, Lakers, etc. back in the day.
Fucking still waiting for the next great Knick.
Fucking still waiting for the next great Knick.
Need a new owner first. Dolan is a clown.
.... 1, 2, 3, 4,....
How many did he end up winning in Miami?
The three other major sports are far more competitive on a year-to-year basis.
There has not been a back-to-back World Series champion since the Yankees’ three-peat (1998-2000) and MLB has had just one repeat matchup of AL/NL champions facing off in the World Series in 42 years. (Yanks vs. Dodgers- 81 and 78).
The NFL has not had a back-to-back Super Bowl Champion since the Pats (2003-2004) and in 53 years of Super Bowls, just once has the NFL has had the same two teams facing off in consecutive years (Cowboys vs. Bills, 92 and 93).
In the NHL the most recent time the same two teams faced off in consecutive years in the Stanley Cup Finals was 83 and 84 (Edmonton and NYI).
Now compare that to the NBA.
The NBA had the same two teams (Golden State and the Cavs) in the finals for four straight years (2015-2018). If you were a fan of any other team you knew going into the season which two teams would be in the finals and you also knew that your team didn’t stand a chance.
Golden State has been in the NBA finals for five straight years.
When Lebron went to Miami the Heat were in the NBA finals for the next three years. When he went back to Cleveland the following year they were in the finals for the next four years.
In all of the other major sports the champion is the best TEAM. In the NBA the champion is almost always the team with 2 or 3 star players. And if they're not on YOUR team, what's the point of watching your team play?
Him being a villain wasn't an issue, it was the fake tough guy villain that bothered me then. And what the league has become since really just emulates that day as a whole.
What a laughably bad take.
Dan Gilbert lucked into getting the number 1 pick that year and getting LeBron. He had Lebron for 7 seasons and during that time the Cavaliers exploded in popularity, revenue, and valuation all because of LeBron.
Awful front-office management squandered those 7 seasons and LeBron went elsewhere. It's great that LeBron started playing for the Ohio team, but he didn't owe it to Gilbert to stay there for his entire career.
He didn't owe Dan Gilbert a single thing more. And that Comic Sans letter that Gilbert wrote after the fact was as unprofessional and immature as it gets for an owner.
Gilbert should have been thanking his lucky stars every day that he had the #1 pick and even more thankful that LeBron is from Akron which contributed to him returning and bringing a championship there.
You let that moment ruin a pro sport for you? Cmon. Lebron didn’t kill anyone. He was a kid who regretfully didn’t handle the biggest moment of his life the right way. Who the fuck cares.
The continued lack of parity definitely didn't help, but I also don't love the way the game has gone with the constant 3 balls. Basketball for me peaks in march and april.
The three other major sports are far more competitive on a year-to-year basis.
There has not been a back-to-back World Series champion since the Yankees’ three-peat (1998-2000) and MLB has had just one repeat matchup of AL/NL champions facing off in the World Series in 42 years. (Yanks vs. Dodgers- 81 and 78).
The NFL has not had a back-to-back Super Bowl Champion since the Pats (2003-2004) and in 53 years of Super Bowls, just once has the NFL has had the same two teams facing off in consecutive years (Cowboys vs. Bills, 92 and 93).
In the NHL the most recent time the same two teams faced off in consecutive years in the Stanley Cup Finals was 83 and 84 (Edmonton and NYI).
Now compare that to the NBA.
The NBA had the same two teams (Golden State and the Cavs) in the finals for four straight years (2015-2018). If you were a fan of any other team you knew going into the season which two teams would be in the finals and you also knew that your team didn’t stand a chance.
Golden State has been in the NBA finals for five straight years.
When Lebron went to Miami the Heat were in the NBA finals for the next three years. When he went back to Cleveland the following year they were in the finals for the next four years.
In all of the other major sports the champion is the best TEAM. In the NBA the champion is almost always the team with 2 or 3 star players. And if they're not on YOUR team, what's the point of watching your team play?
Good post Jim and totally agree. The crazy thing is if you look at the late 80’s and 90’s you could make the argument that the NBA was more popular as a league than the NFL. I mean you had Jordan, Bird, Magic, the list goes on and on. No way the NBA even touches the NFL in terms of popularity now.
Alas, what could have been...
I hated LeBron at the time, still think it was the wrong move and way to do it. But I can understand why he left Cleveland, that franchise was an absolute joke besides him.
The three other major sports are far more competitive on a year-to-year basis.
There has not been a back-to-back World Series champion since the Yankees’ three-peat (1998-2000) and MLB has had just one repeat matchup of AL/NL champions facing off in the World Series in 42 years. (Yanks vs. Dodgers- 81 and 78).
The NFL has not had a back-to-back Super Bowl Champion since the Pats (2003-2004) and in 53 years of Super Bowls, just once has the NFL has had the same two teams facing off in consecutive years (Cowboys vs. Bills, 92 and 93).
In the NHL the most recent time the same two teams faced off in consecutive years in the Stanley Cup Finals was 83 and 84 (Edmonton and NYI).
Now compare that to the NBA.
The NBA had the same two teams (Golden State and the Cavs) in the finals for four straight years (2015-2018). If you were a fan of any other team you knew going into the season which two teams would be in the finals and you also knew that your team didn’t stand a chance.
Golden State has been in the NBA finals for five straight years.
When Lebron went to Miami the Heat were in the NBA finals for the next three years. When he went back to Cleveland the following year they were in the finals for the next four years.
In all of the other major sports the champion is the best TEAM. In the NBA the champion is almost always the team with 2 or 3 star players. And if they're not on YOUR team, what's the point of watching your team play?
Yankees-Braves 96/99
Red Sox-Cardinals 04/13
Both repeat matchups.
Quote:
Hell yes He’s a Benedict Arnold your playing for your home team which drafted you and money is not the issue yet you leave in a dirty nasty way I would never let that SOB put on my colors again but that’s why owners have lost control of their teams. Rule one for all sports No One is bigger than the team, the sport was here before you and will continue after your gone.
What a laughably bad take.
Dan Gilbert lucked into getting the number 1 pick that year and getting LeBron. He had Lebron for 7 seasons and during that time the Cavaliers exploded in popularity, revenue, and valuation all because of LeBron.
Awful front-office management squandered those 7 seasons and LeBron went elsewhere. It's great that LeBron started playing for the Ohio team, but he didn't owe it to Gilbert to stay there for his entire career.
He didn't owe Dan Gilbert a single thing more. And that Comic Sans letter that Gilbert wrote after the fact was as unprofessional and immature as it gets for an owner.
Gilbert should have been thanking his lucky stars every day that he had the #1 pick and even more thankful that LeBron is from Akron which contributed to him returning and bringing a championship there.
I agree with PaulBlake here. The Decision itself was cringeworthy, but Lebron, like many others, earned the right to choose where he wanted to play. Should also be noted, he took less money to make the trio work in Miami (yes, he obviously made it up and then some in endorsements). And also true that Gilbert's letter was as cringeworthy, if not moreso.
I always thought his comments upon resigning with the Cavs were very reasonable. He said I never went to college - so going to play in Miami for 4 years was his equivalent of that. I can't criticize him for that. Shit, who wouldn't love to have had the chance to go be a pro athlete in Miami for 4 years.
Yes, I hated the idea of him choosing to form a super team, rooted hard against them, and was happy when they lost 2 of their 4 Finals trips.
But I also respect the hell out of Lebron - the most iconic player on the planet (fair to put Kobe on his level), and never once any hint of misbehavior off the court.
You let that moment ruin a pro sport for you? Cmon. Lebron didn’t kill anyone. He was a kid who regretfully didn’t handle the biggest moment of his life the right way. Who the fuck cares.
It’s the chain of events that his “decision” set off. That was the point where the super team crap really fired up and in my opinion hurt the game. There are so few players on an NBA roster that one or two of these superstar groups of players banding together ruins the competitiveness of the league. With over 50 guys on an NFL team one or two guys usually don’t change the whole balance of a team.
Even in the NFL, free agency has been great in terms of helping crap franchises get turned around quicker, but the rivalries just aren’t the same. I’ve been watching these posts Eric has been putting out of our teams in the 80’s and it’s just amazing watching how hard the guys played and how much they hated the other team. It’s like they knew this was their only team and they took pride in winning with that team. Now these guys are all friends because they know they may be playing on that guys team in the next 2-3 years.
You let that moment ruin a pro sport for you? Cmon. Lebron didn’t kill anyone. He was a kid who regretfully didn’t handle the biggest moment of his life the right way. Who the fuck cares.
No, it made me not like him anymore and I stopped caring about watching him on a nightly basis. As for the NBA, it marked a pretty pivotal time for them and led to open and almost forthcoming collusion and the need for everything to be a "super team". Its a very unenjoyable league unless you are a big fan of one of the star players.
The major difference was that the team orchestrated it instead of the players using their own agency to form teams.
I think to suggest that now only a few teams have a shot at winning the title vis a vis in eras past is revisionist history.
NBA has always been a superstar league whereby having the best player and other top stars is what made that team a title contender year in, year out. And the reality is that there were always only a handful of teams that ever had a shot at winning the title in any year.
The major difference was that the team orchestrated it instead of the players using their own agency to form teams.
I think to suggest that now only a few teams have a shot at winning the title vis a vis in eras past is revisionist history.
NBA has always been a superstar league whereby having the best player and other top stars is what made that team a title contender year in, year out. And the reality is that there were always only a handful of teams that ever had a shot at winning the title in any year.
For me it is the players basically colluding while under contract at other teams that I didn’t like. If I remember correctly LBJ, Wade, and Bosh setup that plan after playing together during the Summer Olympics. The Warriors (pre-Durant move) were the closest thing to a “legit” excellent team I have seen in a long time. Their core of Curry, Thompson, and Draymond were all drafted by the team. Iggy was a free agent but his premier playing days were behind him.
The major difference was that the team orchestrated it instead of the players using their own agency to form teams.
I think to suggest that now only a few teams have a shot at winning the title vis a vis in eras past is revisionist history.
NBA has always been a superstar league whereby having the best player and other top stars is what made that team a title contender year in, year out. And the reality is that there were always only a handful of teams that ever had a shot at winning the title in any year.
Indeed. The sport has always depended on mega-superstars and super-teams. TV ratings always go up when super-teams are dominating, a la Celtics vs. Lakers in the 80s, Jordan's Bulls and this decade's Warriors.
I can see how some might be disgruntled by the players getting to call the shots, but to me, players wheeling and dealing to get a good team together doesn't look much different than GMs doing back-room deals to put together their own "dream" teams.
As for the actual Decision, the "event" was pretty embarrassing, but the NBA sure loved the ratings. That right there tells you it's a superstar league, and the NBA has to live with pros and cons of that, especially now that other superstars have caught on and have the clout to decide where they want to go.
I'm not saying you have to like it. That's the wagon the NBA has hitched its horse to, is all I'm saying.
Maybe you'd feel differently if the Giants became a super-team. ;-)
I hated LeBron at the time, still think it was the wrong move and way to do it. But I can understand why he left Cleveland, that franchise was an absolute joke besides him.
Osi, I thought they underachieved too. But you're right-Wade's injury really hurt them.